


All Wrapped Up

by Sargentpepper23



Series: Trapped, but along for the ride [5]
Category: One Piece
Genre: All Ronald wants is Jello, Assassins & Hitmen, Christmas, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 02:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20332432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sargentpepper23/pseuds/Sargentpepper23
Summary: “I know it's early, and there's blood on it, but Merry Christmas Kid.”





	All Wrapped Up

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone,  
"The Woman" FINALLY has a name.  
Also, the assassin is an original character. AKA don't go down a rabbit hole trying to figure out who he is in the One Piece Universe :)

All Wrapped Up

_Pero-pero-pero-pero, pero-pero-pero-pero,_

_Come on, come on!_

_Pero-pero-pero-per-Ca-chak_

“Wha-

Ever’s frantic whispering cut Kid off. “There’s someone on the ship”!

There was half a second of silence then Ever heard the soft sound of snow crunching in the background. Kid’s firm voice rumbled back, "Tell me everything."

Ever peered out from her barely cracked bedroom door, jade eyes watching a large shadow stretch an arm out to something in the dining room. “I can’t see them right now, but they’re moving around in the dining room.” 

“What else do you know”?

Ever flinched but stayed where she was as the shadow grew larger, moving closer towards the dining room’s doorframe. “All I’ve seen is flashes. I think it’s a man, and he’s wearing all black with some sort of tactical mask and goggles covering his face.” The shadow was growing larger by the second as it walked towards the hall. “And Kid, he’s got a gun, with _a lot_ of bullets.”

The snail let out a small whistle as though it was flying through the air, and Killer's voice whispered to her, "Where are you"?

“I'm in my room, but Killer, I don't know where the lookouts are. Wha-”

“Go to my room and lock the door. We’ll be back i-.“ 

Ever released a sharp breath as the intruder entered the hall and headed towards the room nearest him, slowly sliding the abnormally long rifle off his shoulder as he went.

"He's coming! I need to go," and she hung up the snail, cutting off Killer's last-second protest.

Frightened, her wide eyes watched the tall man raise his gun, suppressor noticeable, at a closed bedroom door. His gloved hand slowly turned the knob, and the door slid open with a small hiss. The man’s rifle remained locked on the open doorway as he stared into what Ever knew was an empty room. Unperturbed, the intruder turned around and stalked to another bedroom directly across the hall, gun raised. _Crap, crap, crap how do I get out? He’s going room by room!_

Plotting a way to reach Killer’s room, Ever’s weight shifted as she moved to back away from the crack, when she stilled, the assassin’s movements capturing her attention.

The man’s ear was pressed against another bedroom door, and his hand was twisting the old knob, its lock refusing to yield to the immense pressure applied to it. Pulling his head back, Ever watched in horror as he released the knob and _slid his whole hand_ through the solid wood, like a hot knife cutting through butter. Her fear ratcheted up a notch as the faint click of the lock releasing echoed down the hall. Eyes like saucers Ever dared not blink as the intruder’s hand retreated back through the grainy wood and calmly gripped his rifle.

_……..… He’s a devil fruit user………_

Her trembling hands directly contradicted the hit-man’s as he re-aimed the weapon, his hands steady and relaxed as he placed a finger on the trigger, and opened the unlocked door.

Ever clenched her shaking hands into the soft fabric of her sweater as the reality of the situation finally clicked in her mind. _OH FUCK, HE’S A DEVIL FRUIT USER!!_

Throwing a hand on her doorframe was the only thing that kept her sock covered feet from sliding out from under her. Ever’s breath came in shallow pants as she internally panicked.

It wouldn’t matter if she made it to Killer’s room. It wouldn’t matter if she made it to _any _room. If the intruder could slide his hand through a door, who’s to say he can’t force his whole body through. She was well and truly _screwed._

Ever’s eyes continued to track the dangerous man as he stalked closer, her mind scrambling to form any plan that would keep her alive. Watching him turn his back to face another bedroom, she silently turned her knob and shut the door, instinctively flipping the lock. 

Feverishly looking around her cramped room, Ever grabbed a heavy textbook to use as a shield. Snatching the island encyclopedia from a shelf, she squashed it against her chest just as reality caught up with her. Shaking her head in dismissal at the ridiculous idea, Ever slid the book back as the image of her blood-soaked body, riddled with bullets, slithered through her mind.

_Confrontation is out of the question. _

Recalling the intruder’s stealthy movements and his obsessive desire to point a gun at everything, she leaned back against a wall as her breath came faster and faster.

_This isn't a robbery or even a hit. It's an extermination._

Ever frantically scanned her room again, hoping a miracle hiding spot would magically present itself. The converted storage closet she called home had no closet of its own, her bed was too low to the ground to crawl under, and the tiny porthole she had begged to be installed didn’t open.

She froze in terror as the familiar squeak of her neighbor’s floorboard echoed through her wall. Seeing no other option, Ever pressed herself against the wood directly behind where her door swings open.

As the intruder’s soft footsteps stopped outside her threshold, Ever’s breath came in sharp gasps and her knees knocked together, threatening to give out from under her again. She threw a hand over her mouth, effectively smothering her noisy breathing and leaned back even further, wishing she could simply melt into the wall.

_Don’t breathe, don’t breathe, don’t breathe, don’t brea-_

The knob jumped then turned, stopping halfway through a rotation. Five seconds later, a black-gloved hand reached through the oak door and slowly unlocked the latch. 

As the hand retreated, Ever’s last coherent thought was not how much she detested the Kid pirates for ripping her away from her quiet life, or that she never mustered up the courage to fuck the guy she had been in lust with since she was 16. It wasn’t even something noble, like what she wished to say to her friends and family one last time. Instead, her eyes were glued to the porthole, a tune zinging through her mind. Ever longingly stared at the multi-colored lights decorating the massive pine tree in the island’s town center, the glow of them illuminating the soft snowflakes dancing across the glass. _It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas._

The knob jerks, breaking her out of her trance. Casting her eyes towards it, Ever watches as the knob entirely turns and the door creaks open. An oversized shadow fills the doorway, and a boot tread lightly scrapes the floor as the rifle’s muzzle noses past the last barrier-

A pained groan farther down the hallway breaks the silence.

Ever’s racing heart stopped beating. _Ronald._

Her door slowly swings inward, but there is no further movement from the hall.

Through the crack of the doorframe, she sees the assassin. His gun is raised, pointed at her bed, but his head is swiveled to the door diagonal from her room.

_FUCK!!!!_

_How could I forget Ronald!?_

Lost in her scrambled, guilt-ridden thoughts, Ever barely registers that the man has lowered his rifle and is backing away from her door.

Images of Ronald's near-death experience run unchecked in her mind. The man flying across the deck, hitting the mast left side first with a sickening squelch. The crack of bones snapping as his ribs give out under pressure. Ronald’s short gasps puncture the air, his left lung collapsed and filling with fluid, slowly suffocating him.

Ever rips herself from the horrific memories clouding her thoughts. Staring after the hit-man, she watches as he looks at Ronald’s door one last time, before continuing to open the door across the hall, still going room by room.

_Shit. Fuck. Goddamnit. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?_

She doesn’t have a chance to think. Time flies as the assassin inspects the two remaining empty rooms before cautiously approaching Ronald’s threshold.

Frozen, Ever stares in horror as the man silently opens Ronald’s door and aims his gun into the room.

Ever knows what the intruder is seeing. An unconscious, half-dead man hooked up to an IV, wires blanketing his body. The faint sounds of his heart monitor drift into the hallway, filling the dead air with noise.

The man briefly keeps his gun raised, then slings the rifle over his shoulder, simultaneously drawing the large, serrated knife strapped to his belt. 

Still as a statue, Ever could not take her eyes off the weapon. All rational thoughts had screeched to a halt. Her focus was solely on the metallic sheen of the wicked blade, its shadow elongated and terrifying on the wall.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Ronald can barely sit up without help, let alone protect himself!_

Ever shoots a glance down the opposite end of the hallway, then back at the assassin, judging how fast she can make it up on deck to the lookouts. _This is my chance! I need to get help! I need to do something, ANYTHING!_

Yet her body refused to move. Her mind was _screaming_ at her to bolt, to escape, to run as fast and as hard as she could from the monster stalking the ship’s halls. Her right knee twitched, seemingly in agreement with her mind, but her feet remained glued to the floor.

_I need help, but I <strike>can’t</strike> WON’T leave Ronald. But what can I do? He’ll kill me- _

The assassin took a single step into Ronald’s room.

Ever moved.

She didn’t move because her brain was _ordering_ her to run. She didn't move because her mind was _shrieking_ at her to hide. She moved instinctively, _protectively_, like a lioness that would face down anything threatening her cubs.

Rising up off the wall, Ever silently stalked across the room to her bed, bypassing the sharp scissors and razor-edged tape dispenser abandoned on it. Instead, she reached down and grabbed the partially wrapped, heavy Christmas gift off the floor from where it had fallen. Weighing the dark metal in her hand, she gripped the top of it and slipped into the hallway.

Across the hall, the hit-man was three steps from the end of Ronald’s bed, his bored eyes noting how fucked up the crewmember actually was. Underneath the black bruises and wires crisscrossing the almost dead man’s chest, there was a chest tube poking out from his left side. His interest piqued, the hit-man’s gaze followed the red-tinged tube down to the floor where it connected to a measurement container, the marker nearing 400cc’s of bloody fluids. _Damn, someone should just kill the bastard and put him out of his misery. _

Smirking under his mask at the ironic thought, he readjusted his grip on the knife. _I won’t get any useful information out of him. I’ll just have to wait for someone else to- Oh look, he’s up._

The assassin’s smile widened further at the sight before him. The crewmember had cracked one bleary brown eye open at him, his drugged-out mind unable to comprehend the danger he was in.

The assassin shifted forward, preparing to strike-

Something slammed down on the back of his head, instantly knocking him out.

He hit the floor with a low thud, his knife skittering under the bed and his gun making a strange sound as it clattered against the wood.

Standing over the would-be murderer, Ever’s kind face was hard, and her usual jade-colored eyes sparked apple green with rage.

Her wrathful glare weighed heavily on the unconscious man’s back. _How. DARE. You._ _ How dare you try to kill him. I will-_

Something drips down her hand, distracting her briefly from her murderous intentions. Beyond furious, Ever tracked the red dot staining her palm upward to the weapon clenched in her fingers. Glinting under the lone light shining above Ronald’s bed, two of the ridges on the gear-shaped bookend were coated with blood.

Watching the blood slide down her wrist and stain her lilac sweater, an instinctive, almost primal side of her inwardly smirks in victory. _Good. I’m glad he’s bleeding. Because what he wanted to do, what he ALMOST did, is unforgivable. _Readjusting her slipping grip, Ever shifts her arm, ready to strike the man one last time and-

A weak, raspy voice instantly stops her from swinging. “…Everly? Is it already time for me to take my meds”?

Rooted to the spot Ever slowly peers up, shocked highlighter green eyes meeting cloudy chestnut orbs. There was Ronald, moving, trying to sit up further against his fluffy pillows, a grimace stretched across his rugged face. _He’s OK. _

The man eventually gave up and gingerly leaned back in his original position, a pained huff escaping his lips as he landed. Squinting under the light, Ronald continued to groggily look at her “…Is that sparkly wrapping paper? I told you, don’t buy me any sympathy gifts, and especially don’t wrap it in _that_.”

Her irrational rage was ebbing away with every grumpy word that rattled from his throat, and her eyes prickled with tears of relief. Slowly coming to her senses_,_ Ever glanced at the heavy object, then at the hideous pink wrapping paper, before promptly hiding it behind her back. _I don’t think he knows what just happened. If he knew what the situation was, what I used the bookend for, he would lose his shit and hurt himself trying to get out of bed._

Ever leaned back, going for a relaxed look and slowly slid the gun farther across the floor. Wiping a hand across her eyes, Ever plastered what she hoped was a smile on her face and spoke. "Oh, that? Nah, it’s not for you.”

Walking across the room, she approached a large cabinet and proceeded to rifle through its contents. “And I’m sorry I woke you up. It’s _freezing_ in my room.”

Finding what she was looking for, Ever pulled a large comforter from the cabinet’s depths and forced the other blankets back into submission before slamming the door closed. Shooting a quick glance at the unresponsive man splayed out on the floor, she looked back at Ronald and let out a genuine smirk. “So I came here, knowing the ship’s resident blanket hog would have extra blankets stashed in his room.”

Ronald let out snort then a wheeze of pain as his muscles seized up in his chest, his throat tickling as he tried not to cough. Concerned, Ever dropped the blanket and breezed over to him, thrusting the cup of water from his bedside table in his face “Drink. You lived this long, don’t let a cough do you in.”

Gratefully taking the water, Ronald sucked down three hearty gulps before Ever shakily placed it back onto the low table. “I am NOT a blanket hog! I-“

“Oh please, don’t even try to deny it. Also, I’m going to let you off the hook and not smack you this _one time_ for calling me Everly. Only my mother calls me that, and it’s usually when I’m in trouble.”

“But Killer calls you that _all the time. _I don’t see you smacking him-“

"One, Killer's an ass, and he does it just to annoy me. Two, when I _do_ smack him, he just stands there with this… “air” about him. It pisses me off! I can practically see the stupid smirk on his face.”

“So? Why does he get special- hrrmpphh”?

Ever slid her hand over Ronald’s mouth and gently forced his head back into the pillow, talking over him. “We can argue about my name_ after_ you sleep some more. Tell you what, if you go back to sleep, I’ll raid Killer’s “secret stash” of Jello and bring some with your meds.”

Grumpy, but placated by the thought of Jello, Ronald mumbled something about how pushy women can be and reached for another pillow. Seeing his intent, Ever grabbed it and slid the plush tool comfortably under his arm. Nodding off, Ronald’s last grumbled demand was "Make sure it's cherry-flavored" before the drugs dragged him back under. 

A small smile crossed her face as she stared down at the sleeping crewmember. Internally sighing, Ever turned around and glared down at her other problem.

Sticking a foot out, she lightly nudged the assassin’s chin up from the ground, and when he didn’t move, she let it fall with a smack against the wood. _Serves him right._ _What a fucking dick. _

Ever frowned in thought before grabbing the comforter off the floor and laying it down next to the man. _I need to move this ass-hat before he wakes up again. _Grabbing an arm and propping a foot on the side of the assassin, she pulled and pushed the heavy man, eventually rolling him onto the blanket. Half a second later, she threw the bookend on there as well. _Just in case. _

Leaning down, Ever picked up what she thought would be a weighty rifle and was surprised by how light it was. Paranoid, she peered down at the man to make sure he was still out and tapped a finger against the gun, confirming her suspicions. _This gun’s not made of metal. _

Slinging the rifle across her chest, she didn’t bother looking for the knife on the other side of the room. Bracing herself, she grabbed two corners of the blanket and pulled, almost instantly falling on her face as her fuzzy socks scrambled for purchase on the slick floor.

_God damn fucking socks. _ Pissed, she ripped her socks off and flung them into a corner. _Round two._

Ever gripped the blanket one more time, planted her bare feet to the floor, and heaved. To her immense relief, the blanket slid across the smooth wood with a nearly silent whisper. Digging her feet in, she slowly pulled the man out of the room and down the hall.

Turning into the dining room, Ever dropped him with a thud and aimed for Kid’s new custom chair. She didn’t know much about it, but she heard the gaudy seat had been stolen from some lord’s house. She also knew Kid had reinforced it by welding steel bars and bolts to it after Ever had successfully taken apart his old one.

The cumbersome chair screeched in protest as she man-handled it into the center of the room. Turning back towards the unconscious man, she nudged him again, before grabbing both of his arms and hauling him in short spurts across the floor.

Struggling to move the dead weight, she eventually propped and shoved the assassin into the seat.

Ever breathed heavily and rested her hands on her hips to take in more oxygen, mind planning ahead for the next part of operation “_Tie this motherfucker down_." 

Determined, she looked at the cabinets built into the left wall of the room before her eyes naturally tracked the light glowing in the corner. The tiny, half-dead Christmas tree Wire had ripped from a forest last week was practically swallowed by multicolored lights. On top of the lights, the poor thing was bedecked in strange voodoo doll ornaments that eerily resembled each member of the crew.

At the tree’s highest point, Kid’s miniature replica acted as the "star." The doll's red string hair was spiked like a porcupine and the bent metal fork that poorly replicated his prosthetic left arm made Ever laugh every time she saw it. 

Resisting the urge to snicker, Ever peered back at the hit-man one last time and began her search for duct tape.

~~~

The assassin let out an inhuman groan, his head _POUNDING _with every beat of his heart. Disoriented, he tries to raise a hand to his face, but for some reason, it's not moving. Not bothered by it, he goes to stand, trying and failing to put weight on his feet, his left foot slipping at his poor attempt. A lone hazel eye cracks open, the other congealed with blood, as the assassin tries to reorient himself with his surroundings. The hazel orb focuses, then widens just in time for him to see a flash of pale legs and a purple sweater before there is another slam to the back of his head.

~~~

Thirty-five minutes later, the crew made it back.

Standing with the assassin’s gun in her hand, Ever heard the smallest of creaks from the hallway. To anyone foreign on the ship, it would have been just another sound of the ship gently rocking with the tide. To Ever, it meant something was _there._ Someone is _here._

Raising the rifle at the empty doorway, the gun bucked back against her shoulder as she pulled the trigger, the shot near silent as wood exploded in the hallway. Ignoring the bruising hit to her shoulder, she shouted, "Stay back if you know what's good for you! I'm a great shot, and I'll kill your friend if you try to come in here"!

“DID YOU JUST FUCKING SHOOT MY SHIP? I WILL-“

“Ever wait! It’s us”!

Relief floods through her as Killer slowly slid into the room, his scythes out. Half a step behind him, Kid seethed, purple sparks crackling at the ends of his fingers. 

Beyond happy at her captor’s arrival, Ever practically threw the weapon into a corner across the floor. “Oh thank god, I’m a crap shot. You don’t know ho-“

They weren’t paying attention to her. Instead, they warily surveyed the trashed room.

Chairs and tables were shoved and piled on top of one another off to the right. Lying on top of a table, a black tactical suit was wadded into a ball, along with enough weapons and ammunition to field a small militia. On the left side of the room, every single drawer was pulled open, empty saran wrap boxes and a bare duct tape roll littered the floor. Leading from the corner, Kid and Killer’s eyes followed the trail of pine needles and contorted voodoo dolls to where the pathetic Christmas tree lay. In the room’s center, seated in a familiar chair, was a nearly naked man. His ashy hair was caked in blood, a single strip of duct tape covered his mouth, and he was trussed up in some… interesting bindings.

A little taken aback by the display, the pair ogled the sight before them. The assassin’s arms were duct-taped palm to elbow on the armrests of the chair. Continuing downward, saran-wrap wreathed the man’s chest and forced him straight back into the seat, the transparent film magnifying lean muscles and old scars. However, what surprised them the most was the Christmas lights that bound his feet and crawled up his legs, eventually stopping at his waist.

“-woke up just as I ran out of saran wrap, so I whacked him again, and grabbed the lights off the tree to-“

Kid stomped forward, wanting to break the assassins fingers one by one, to torture him slowly for his crimes. He had invaded _his _ship, he had killed _his_ lookouts, he had-

“WAIT! Don’t touch his hands”!

Tripping over an object on the floor in her haste, Ever rounded the hulking chair and hustled over to the mound of ammunition covering the table. Digging through it briefly, she grabbed a small handful of seastone bullets and walked back, dropping them in Killer’s hand as she went.

“He’s a devil fruit user. I found these loaded in the gun and shoved in his pockets.”

Cautiously creeping in front of the massive, pissed off captain, Ever reached down and gently tapped the assassin’s left hand. “I taped some of them to his palms so he wouldn’t _literally_ slip away.”

Kid's large frame moved closer, blocking the light shining on her and the trussed-up hit-man. Hesitantly peering up, Ever watched his angry amber eyes inspect her then slide up and over her to glare maniacally down at the man. 

Cracking his knuckles, Kid couldn’t wait to make this man scream, to make him pay for the four lives he had abruptly ended. What sounds would echo across the ship as Kid drove iron sheets under his skin and slowly forced them up, flaying the man alive from the inside out? 

Seeing the mad shine in Kid’s eyes, Killer sheathed his scythes and gently pulled Ever away from the two men. Glancing down at the bloody gash on the back of assassin’s head as he passed by, he let out a low whistle, the hollow sound reverberating oddly through his mask. “You know, you cracked him over the head pretty good Everly.”

Ever glared up at the blonde with a _look _before promptly smacking his rock hard shoulder, irritated that he called her by her real name_. _“Stop calling me that”!

Nonchalantly leaning back and crossing his arms, Killer assumed his “arrogant ass” stance. “Stop calling you what? Everly? That’s you’re name.” 

Ever’s eye twitched. The infuriating man was pressing the issue, and she was positive he was smirking under that ridiculous mask. "You know exactly wha-." Killer leaned an elbow on top of her head, expertly using her as an armrest and halting the beginnings of a rant.

_… Is he seriously using me as a FUCKING ARMREST?! Oooooh, the nerve of this man-_

The muscles in Killer’s arm shifted as he moved his hand into her line of vision, pointing at something next to Kid’s chair. “So what’s that”?

_Inhale patience, breathe out frustration. Inhale patience, breathe out frustration._

Ever had to take a moment to compose herself. Taking a deep breath, she slowly loosed it in a long exhale. "It’s a bookend. More specifically, it’s Kid’s Christmas gift.”

Killer’s pointer finger twitched. “You’re telling me _you _got _him_ a Christmas gift”?

Ever scoffed in mock outrage at his implied tone. “Excuse you! I am a kind and thoughtful human being who believes everyone deserves-“

“Cut the crap. You tripped on his mechanical journals one too many times didn’t you.”

“…. Ok, yeah fine I did. He leaves his shit everywhere! I mean seriously, it’s not that fucking hard to-“

Something pink, sparkly, and covered in dark stains was promptly shoved in her face. “Is this what you hit him with”?

Ever raised her head and stared up past Killer’s wide forearm to meet Kid’s gaze. His eager eyes gleamed with a mad light, and a sickening grin split his face like the Cheshire cat.

“Yes…”

“Good. Consider it mine because I’m going to use it again.”

Killer let out a huff of amusement as Ever dropped her head and released a dramatic sigh.

“You know what? It’s early, and there’s blood on it, but consider this a Christmas gift from me to you Kid. You’ll get the oth-“

_SCREEEEEEECCCCCHHHHHHH_

Ever perked up just in time to glimpse the trim of Kid’s fur coat and the gold legs of his chair leave the dining room.

_Well, at least he seems to like it. Too bad he didn't notice the over-the-top wrapping paper._

Her ponytail moved as Killer shifted his arm and stared straight down at her “So…. where's my gift, Everly"?

She smacked him. Hard.


End file.
